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Protesters waited outside of the Grand Hyatt hotel in midtown on Sunday night for Donald Trump's newly appointed chief strategist Steve Bannon. The group blocked access to the entrance of the hotel, where Bannon was expected to attend a gala. It's unclear if Bannon ever showed up. (Published Sunday, Nov. 20, 2016)

The group IfNotNow helped organize the protest and many in the crowd were young and Jewish. On social media the group boasted that up to "700 Jews" prevented Bannon from speaking at the gala.

They argued that Bannon is an anti-Semite — a charge that the Trump transition team has repeatedly denied.

Trump Booed Leaving New York Times

President Elect Donald Trump is booed as he walks through the lobby of The New York Times Building after a 75-minute meeting with Times journalists. The lobby of the Times building is open to the public, and a large crowd had gathered by the time he departed. (Published Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016)

Bannon, 62, is one of Trump’s most controversial hires. He joined Trump's campaign as CEO in August after serving as the head of Breitbart News — a far-right outlet that is one of Trump's biggest backers.

Bannon, onetime Breitbart News chief, worked for Goldman Sachs, then started his own media-focused boutique investment banking firm. After selling the business, he became a film producer, which introduced him to conservative publisher Andrew Breitbart and author Peter Schweizer. Bannon led the Breitbart website, which has been widely condemned as racist, sexist and anti-Semitic.

But the Anti-Defamation League, while addressing Breitbart's inflammatory stance under Bannon's guidance, observed that Bannon has never made any anti-Semitic remarks.

"While there is a long fact pattern of evidence that Breitbart served as a platform for a wide range of bigotry and there is some controversy related to statements from Mr. Bannon’s divorce proceedings in 2007, we are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements made by Bannon himself," the organization said in a statement.

Trump Takes Meetings at His New Jersey Golf Club

President-elect Trump interviewed more than a dozen candidates for his administration at his New Jersey golf club over the weekend, including Mitt Romney, Rudy Guliani, Chris Christie and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who has been tough on immigration, and others. (Published Monday, Nov. 21, 2016)

Bannon's ex-wife claimed in a 2007 divorce filing, though, that he made three separate anti-Semitic comments when they fought over which private school to send their kids nearly a decade ago in Los Angeles, NBC News reported. Bannon has denied the allegation.

Jewish groups and a long list of Democratic leaders have denounced Bannon's hiring and called on Trump to reconsider.

Trump Tower was also the scene of a rally on Sunday. Supporters of Trump held signs of approval for the president-elect. At one point they came face-to-face with a large group of anti-Trump demonstrators. Police used barricades to keep the peace.

On Sunday, Trump met with more than a dozen potential cabinate appointees at his western New Jersey golf club, Trump National Golf Club.